Record flooding in Queensland is likely to cost more than $1 billion, with extensive damage to properties and other assets in the agriculture and coalmining industries set to lead to large-scale disaster relief and a spike in insurance claims.

Wheat, cotton, sugar cane and fruit and vegetable crops are among those affected in Queensland.

The floods have also caused more chaos for Queensland’s coalmining industry, already hit by earlier heavy rain. Major miners Xstrata and Vale, and Australian-listed miners
Macarthur Coal
and
Aquila Resources
, declared force majeure on their Queensland coal operations before Christmas due to heavy flooding.

More than 300 Queensland roads were closed and some damaged as of Tuesday, hindering residents, emergency services and holidaymakers in what many are calling the worst floods in 50 years.

Parts of NSW also remained badly affected on Tuesday, although conditions were easing, while Victoria was subject to several flood warnings.

Queensland Emergency Services Minister
Neil Roberts
told ABC Radio the crisis was not over yet.

“We are expecting much more rain and much more flooding across various parts of Queensland," he said.

“The damage bill will be very, very extensive."

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Xstrata Coal spokesman James Rickards confirmed the company’s Rolleston open-pit mine and Newlands operation were affected by the flooding, with the rail network that ships Xstrata’s coal to port being regularly flooded out.

Rio Tinto
said the latest rain had had an impact on all its Queensland operations, while BHP Billiton is not providing updates on the state of its operations.

Macarthur on December 3 announced a profit downgrade due to the rain after exhausting the stockpiles it had built up to get it through the wet season.

The flooding around the towns of Dalby, Chinchilla and Roma has also affected the coal seam gas industry.
Santos
spokesman Gavin Jackman said that while the floods had not affected the company’s gas production, “a few wells have been temporarily isolated as a precautionary measure to ensure continuing safe operations".

Origin Energy
said around a dozen of its 300 coal seam gas wells were affected by the flooding, although all its customer requirements were being met.

Australian Banana Growers Council chief executive Jonathan Eccles said on Tuesday it was too early to tell how badly water damage would affect banana crops in Queensland and northern NSW. “There has been a little bit of wind damage but it has only been a small cyclone, and it was actually a bit further north than the Innisfail banana growing area," he said.

“There probably will be some rain-damaged fruit but at this stage it is a bit early to tell."

A disaster situation was declared for the Queensland townships of Alpha, Jericho, Warra, Chinchilla, Dalby and Theodore on Tuesday, where some emergency evacuations took place. As of Tuesday, hundreds of properties in Rockhampton and areas of Brisbane were being threatened as floodwater moved towards the east coast.

Queensland Primary Industries Minister
Tim Mulherin
had encouraged central Queensland primary producers to apply for disaster relief shortly before Christmas. This could include freight subsidies and concessional loans. The Queensland Rural Adjustment Authority could provide loans of up to $250,000, with interest-only repayments for two years, Mr Mulherin said.

Peak rural producers body AgForce Queensland said flooding in the state had cost grain farmers at least $400 million, particularly in the southern inland areas where much grain was yet to be harvested. All broadacre cropping areas in the Central Highlands and Darling Downs were also affected.

AgForce president Brent Finlay said that estimate was “very conservative" and was certain to rise once waters receded in the coming weeks.

“It’s just devastating. This was going to be the crop that got a lot of farmers back on their feet after the drought," he told AAP.

Prime Minister
Julia Gillard
said on Tuesday she was “particularly thinking of those in Queensland who were battling floodwaters".

Earlier this month the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said heavy rainfall had already caused harvest delays, and warned that widespread flooding would mean a significant amount of 2010–11 winter crops would be downgraded from prime milling wheat and malting barley to grain suitable for stock-feed purposes only.

The Insurance Council of Australia issued a warning in November to Queensland residents and business owners in cyclone prone areas to make sure they had adequate insurance cover given there were forecasts of an above normal level of cyclone activity at the time.

The NSW State Emergency Service said that although flood conditions were easing across the state, the Riverina town of Hay also remained subject to serious flooding after the Murrumbidgee River peaked on Tuesday morning.

The north-eastern towns of Urbenville and Bonalbo were also affected, although almost 200 residents at Kyogle were told they were allowed to return to their homes on Tuesday.